First Day in Western Madeira...

I was originally determined to rent a villa with a private pool for the entire week, but had to compromise with just four nights in Arco da Calheta in the western part of the island. Although I was initially disappointed, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed us to have two entirely different experiences.

The house was lovely, but the journey there scared the crap out of me.

I let Ashlynn navigate as she’s not scared of the winding mountain roads like I am. This is the view from the parking lot when we stopped for lunch.

I love this shot that Veronica took!

The main road across the island through a series of tunnels was relatively flat, but once off that we encountered a bunch of incredibly steep switchbacks. Although there was always a guardrail, I still found the roads terrifying.

Jimmy doesn’t share my fears and drove with confidence. He clearly had too much confidence when he attempted to drive up a road with a warning sign about its 32% grade. As he neared the crest, he realized that he wasn’t going to make it. Luckily there was no one behind us and he was able to back down into a driveway to turn around.

After a trip to the grocery store, we relaxed back at the house.

We ate most of our meals by the pool...

...where we enjoyed this beautiful view.